Dutch Politician, Nazi Collaborator. Born in the Dutch East Indies, Rost van Tonningen moved to the Netherlands in 1909. He studied Law at Leiden University, graduating in 1921. During his studies, he was most interested in International Law and thus sought a job as a representative for the League of Nations in Vienna in 1923. In Austria, Rost van Tonningen developed strong anti-semitic and anti-communist beliefs. Now fiercely disagreeing with the League of Nations for preventing Austria's Anschluss and allowing the Soviet Union as a member, he resigned and returned to the Netherlands in 1936. There he joined the National Socialist Movement (NSB), where he was offered the position of Chief Editor for the party's newspaper Het Nationaal Dagblad (The National Newspaper). Additionally, he was elected into the House of Representatives for the NSB in 1937. Rost van Tonningen's influence within the party grew, which caused the party to become more and more anti-semitic. Rost van Tonningen differed from party leader Mussert in two ways: he was much more anti-semitic and wanted the Netherlands to be annexed by Germany, while Mussert was less radical in his antisemitism and wanted a Greater Netherlands (including Flanders) within the German Empire. In 1939, Rost van Tonningen founded the Mussert guards, a paramilitary organisation, whose members later joined the Dutch SS. In May 1940, days before Germany invaded the Netherlands, Rost van Tonningen was arrested as he was considered dangerous to the state, but was eventually freed by the Germans. During the German occupation of the Netherlands, he was tasked with liquidating or nazifying the Marxist organisations, especially the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). Nazification failed, as the SDAP and other organisations refused to cooperate, instead dissolving themselves. In 1941, he was named Secretary-General of the Finance Ministry, as well as President of the Dutch Central Bank (DNB). The Netherlands was held financially responsible for the costs of the occupation and Rost van Tonningen happily obliged. This led to high costs to Dutch society, with estimates as high as 14.5 billion Reichsmark. Additionally, his policies of continually printing money led to high inflation. In 1942, Rost van Tonningen established the Dutch East Company (NOC), which sought to reconstruct Ukraine by sending Dutchmen to work there as farmers, but the plan was a failure. In 1944, he was trained to be an officer in the paramilitary organisation Landstorm. At the end of the war, he fought on the front lines in the Netherlands and was arrested by the Canadians. While imprisoned in Utrecht, he attempted to commit suicide by cutting his wrists and neck with a razor blade, but he failed to do so. He was transferred to a prison in Scheveningen. Here he allegedly committed suicide after jumping from a balcony. It is assumed he committed suicide due to bullying and torture from the guards, but his widow, who always held on to her Nazi beliefs, claims he was pushed off the balcony by a guard.